>> Voiceover: Live, from San Juan, Puerto Rico. It's theCUBE covering Blockchain Unbound. Brought to you by Blockchain Industries. (Upbeat samba music) >> Hello and welcome to our special on the ground coverage in Puerto Rico. It's theCUBE covering Blockchain Unbound. This is the industry gathering from all the global industry leaders, emerging entrepreneurs, financiers, investors in cryptocurrency, blockchain, the decentralized internet. Part of our continuing coverage. My next guest is Jim Calhoun who's the founder of Coinbot, an innovative entrepreneurial project that turned into something really growing and large. Great to have you on. Thanks for joining. >> Thanks for having me. >> So, Coinbot. First, take a minute to explain what it is, it's a really clever way that you guys built a product for yourselves, and it kind of went crazy, and it's going great. So, talk about what is Coinbot, how you guys got there, and what's going on with it right now. >> So, Coinbot is a chatbot you can message on Facebook, or Slack, or Telegram, that gives you realtime cryptocurrency and fiat prices. Basically what that means is, it's basically an AI you can message. It will tell you BitCoin's price, or Ethereum's price. It'll even do conversions like, how many times have you seen 0.0549 Bitcoin, and you're like, how much is that in dollars? You can just send that to Coinbot, it'll do the calculation for you and give you the right price. >> So James, the #1 question I want to ask you is, because it's like Alexa or Siri for pricing. Is it going to go up? (laughs) >> Yeah. >> Hey, hey Coinbot. Is Bitcoin rising or falling? I mean technically you're not there yet, but you can almost imagine, the dots connecting with the data. >> Yeah. So we get a lot of analytics and data on our backend. The way Coinbot works is we're individually hooked into each exchange. And so a lot of developers find that interesting. They want access to our API. And a lot of traders find that interesting, as far as the data. So, like you said, we can pick up on trends. We can make some positions ourselves sometimes. And, a lot of people are interested in that. >> So it's a free service for users? >> Yes. >> So you go to Coinbot.co, Coinbot.co, it's free, but the analytics is really the compelling thing that's an opportunity. Is there an API to the data? >> Yes. >> Traders? Developers? Can you play with the data? How do people party with the data? >> We're working on our API, and access to our data. Right now if you sign up for our newsletter on our website, we'll email you when it's available, and you can sign up and get early access. >> Okay so we were talking before we came on that you know, a side project for friends. That's kind of how Uber started, by the way. A couple town cars, and next thing you know it's Uber, so. In a way then it went mainstream. Talk about what happened, and where is it now. >> It's funny. I've been trading in crypto for years. And before that, I was in the stock market. So a few friends of mine, we were all in the stock market trading, and we said, let's meet up and talk about some trading strategies. And again, this is in the standard stock market. So we meet at a coffee shop. We sit down. We talk about stocks for about three minutes, and then crypto, Bitcoin comes up. And the next three hours are dominated by crypto. So we started talking about cryptocurrencies, this and that, and so I created a Slack group with us. It's about eight or nine of us at the time. I created a Slack group, and in the Slack group, I noticed people were asking, "What's the price of this?" Or, "Who's longing Ethereum? Who's shorting Bitcoin"? And I would go to Google to find the prices, or go to the exchanges and find the prices, copy and paste it into the chatroom. And one day I just thought to myself, this would be so much easier if there was a bot or something in the chatroom that can do this on it's own. So that's how Coinbot was born. It's basically a group of crypto hedge fund managers, crypto minors. It's a tight knit group of crypto entrepreneurs, and Coinbot lived there for about a year. One of the people in the group, he's also in a lot of other crypto groups. And he asked me, he was like, "Well, I'd like to use Coinbot "in these other groups I'm in. "Have you guys thought about releasing it?" So we released it. We got 2,000 users right off the bat. It kind of exploded like wildfire. We've had exponential growth. I think we're at 25,000 users now, almost to 30,000 just this week, and I think we get 12,000 queries per day. Minimum. >> How do people work with you guys? So let's just say, I want to put it on SiliconANGLE.com, or theCUBE.net, our sites, how do I share it? If I'm a developer, have you guys thought that through? What's the current situation with the product? I know you just get it for free, so how do I integrate it into my workflow via API, or whatnot? >> We can chat after this if you'd like. But right now, if you get in contact us, from our website you can email us directly, those emails go to me actually, and you can ask for API access. We'll ask a couple questions, "What's your project? "What are you looking to do? "What kind of endpoints or data are you looking for?" And if it's the right fit, then we'll approve you. So far we have a handful of developers who have built some products based on our API. One example is CoinView app, and another example is Edublock wants to incorporate Coinbot's API into their curriculum. >> And the Slack group, the original nine guys or so, or gals, was that all here in Puerto Rico? Was it around the world? >> Around the world. >> And where do you live? You live here locally? >> I live in Los Angeles. >> Los Angeles, okay. So you're in LA. So any involvement with Puerto Rico here? Or is you just here for the conference, or? >> So Puerto Rico. I love Puerto Rico. (John laughs) So this is my first time here. The more I'm here, the more I'm learning about it, and the more I'm realizing there's huge opportunities here. I'd be looking to probably start something out here soon. And uh, yeah. >> Are you going to move here? >> I'm considering it. (John laughs) Honestly, now that I've said that publicly, (John laughs) I guess I'll have to stick to my word. But, I'm considering it. Really. >> Awesome. And let's talk about how we can help spread the love, for people who want to promote it, it's CoinBot.co? >> Yes. >> Any other things you want to say about the project? >> We're on Facebook, that's our newest launch. That was about a month ago, and-- >> John: Facebook messenger? >> Facebook messenger. So you can search "Ask Coinbot", or just search "Coinbot", we're the first one to come up. We're on there. >> Other platforms? You had also mentioned Telegram? >> Telegram. We're going to be on Discord next. And we've gotten a lot of requests for Amazon Echo and Google Home. >> Yeah, yeah. Echo's a key. We got some contacts at Amazon, we can help you out there. >> Okay, awesome. (laughs) >> Anything that you see in the marketplace, that you're excited about, things that you're concerned about, as someone who's been trading for a while? We've been covering Bitcoin since 2010, so we've seen some early day stuff. We love the maturation going on, the ecosystem. Your thoughts on the good, what you're concerned about, and what you hope gets better fast? >> Yes. I hope we get some more clarity on regulations, especially when it comes to the ICOs, the initial coin offerings. It's a huge gray area, and everybody of course, anybody like myself, and like yourself, we want to follow the rules, we want to do things properly. But it's hard when there are no rules, necessarily. Or the rules are very early. So I think 2018 is going to be the year of clarify on regulation, and I think that's where Puerto Rico comes in and plays a major role, as being a more innovative space to do those types of things. I think also, being in crypto for a long time as a trader, I think the old days are over, if that makes sense? >> (laughs) Yeah. Getting rich off the massive rise in three days? That's over? (laughs). Those glory days? >> Yeah that's a thing of the past now. But this is a good thing, because I think it'll bring more volume, more stability, and more people will start getting involved in it. >> What do you say to the people out there that are getting into the trading, I hear a lot of parents of their kids that are my age, that have kids who are in high school or college, they're letting them play with some money, and they're learning how fast they can lose money. So as an experienced trader, certainly in crypto, which is kind of Wild West, it's a big wave coming, your advice to folks that want to dabble, put their toe in the water, whether it's learning, and/or trying to make a career out of it. What's your advice? >> This is good. This is a great question actually. So when I give talks at different conferences about Coinbot, I'd say half the people who come up to me after are developers, but the other half are people who are completely new to crypto. And they say, "I love your product "because it's simple, it's not complicated, "it's an easy way for me to get started." So that's part of the reason why we're partnering with Edublock here in Puerto Rico. The blockchain education group. Because we know that our product is good for beginners. And what I've learned is when I first got into crypto, I was in high school. I bought a Bitcoin for $150. But because it was $150, it was a little amount of money, but because it was in there, I found myself constantly checking the prices. And as I was checking prices, I started getting sucked into it more. And I started educating myself, and learning more from there. So I think, if your kids are really into this, give them $100 or however much you can spare, or put $100 in yourself, too, with your kids. And you'll see you'll start getting sucked in. You can message Coinbot. You can check the prices on other apps, and you'll start getting sucked into it. It's almost uncontrollable. >> It's addictive. It's fun. Again I've always said, we even reported on our show, on our sites, this is the biggest wave in the computer revolution ever. If you would combine the other big waves that are well-documented: The PC revolution. Mini computer revolution. Internet revolution. This thing is massive. This wave is here. >> And it's moving really, really fast compared to those. >> Yeah, yeah. And the ecosystem's forming really fast. You've got funding coming in. What's your take on the ecosystem? Obviously it's super fast. What's your views? Early still, but still growing fast. What's the sentiment? >> That's a big question. (John laughs) Let's see. I think it's growing extremely fast, and I think that's a good thing, because I think it's going to be a lot of ups and downs, so the quicker we can go through the ups, the quicker we can go through the downs. If that makes sense? I know that abstract. Basically what I mean is... I think that there's going to be some booms, and there's going to be a lot of busts. Especially this year when it comes to the altcoins. I think we'll start seeing some coins maybe die out. And I think that's a good thing, because it's a natural process of selection, I guess you can say. >> Yeah. Evolution/Darwinism for the crypto world. The ICO boom obviously's been a great run for people looking to raise money, but we've been reporting, obviously, and we also have tokenized our business as well. Not yet ICO'd or maybe not even do it, but the point is utility token. If you don't have a utility, and you're raising money, you now have a security token. It's a nice movement on the ICO front, that should clarify the good, bad and the ugly. The scams from the legit deals. So it'll give people more time to get their utility up and running. What do you see the role of the utility token as security token emerges, as the preferred way to finance new ventures? >> Okay so. I like the direction of security tokens, if only we can figure out a way for many people to participate, as opposed to just accredited investors. So I know there's a lot of types of securities. There's your standard CF, crowdfunding raise. And your reggae, your reggae plus, there's a handful of different directions you can go with security tokens. And we looked into this with Coinbot as well. We've been talking about doing an ICO, and we were torn between utility or security. I think 2018 may be the year of security tokens. Maybe more towards July, towards the end of the year, but I think it's a good direction to go in. It legitimizes our industry, it legitimizes the technology we're building. And as long as we can get all of the participants, as many people involved as possible, and we're not excluding people, who would otherwise not be an accredited investor, or have the opportunities that accredited investors have. I think that's a good thing. >> That's awesome. Question again, on the institutional side: I had a chance to interview the folks, ex-Goldman Sachs guys in charge of BlockTower, and you got Polychain, two different make-up of hedge funds. You got hedge funds in crypto! I mean, come on. This is happening. A good thing. Money's coming into the market. How does that all fit into your mind? How does it all tie together? >> I think the institutions are really banking on the technology of blockchain itself. I'm not sure where they are as far as trading the actual currencies, but I know they like the technology, and to me that's all that's needed. In my mind that's certainty that this industry is going to be the absolute foundation of the future of technology. >> Well you're a great, walking example of what we see in the ecosystem that is unprecedented. That is, someone who's developed, who also makes money with coins. So you're a developer. And you're also seeing the emergence of people like, building products, making money on trades, and then starting hedge funds. A lot of people who are starting financing organizations are entrepreneurs and crypto traders and investors. It's an interesting dynamic because it's not the old model of venture capital where they're just business guys investing in ponies, the techies. It's kind of a new cultural shift. >> It is. >> This is significant. Lot of different dynamics are at play here. They kind of know what's going on, so, interesting to see what the outcome will be. >> Yeah a lot of entrepreneurs in this space come from the front lines. So they got their start trading a couple coins, built some personal wealth from there, and expanded on that and learned more, and now I see people, especially in Puerto Rico, the entrepreneurs I've met since I've been here, the native Puerto Ricans here, have done amazing things coming from the very, very... Coming from zero and building themselves up, and then building a company, and helping others, and helping each other on the island. It's extremely inspiring. So that's why I'm excited to maybe set something up here and possibly move here. >> And it's an opportunity for a new kind of democracy, total decentralized, no central trust issues, complete transparency, but also security, with the immutable blockchain. Great opportunity. >> Yeah. >> James thanks for spending the time and chatting with us here in Puerto Rico. Congratulations on Coinbot. Check it out. I mean to me it's like the Siri, it's the Alexa of pricing. A lot of opportunities, and we'll keep in touch. I'm John Furrier, here in Puerto Rico, on the ground for cryptocurrency blockchain decentralized applications, all the future of work, and how society works, we are here with Blockchain Unbound. Thanks for watching.